Dear Mr. Prime Minister and all those it may concern,
Last Wednesday was Orange Shirt Day, a day to remember the survivors of residential school as well as the ones who did not survive. It’s easy to see the residential school system in numbers. But behind those numbers are real children. Children who had their culture and their childhoods stolen. Those ‘schools’ were only one of the many things this country has done to stamp out the culture and the lives of Indigenous people.
Do you know how long the government of which you currently head has been in place? A hundred and fifty-three years. Do you know how long the Indigenous people lived with the land before Europeans showed up? Thousands and thousands of year. Yet it has only taken us a couple hundred to create a crisis. A Climate Crisis.
It is by mistreating and disrespecting the cultural practices of Indigenous people that we got ourselves into this mess. What do you think we need to do to get ourselves out of it…?
On September 25th, youth all around the world striked for the climate. Where I live, in Halifax, our rally emphasized the voices of Indigenous peoples and the concept of Climate Justice. We chanted ‘Where are we? Mi’kma’ki!’. Because every day, of every month, of every year we must remember where we are.
I hope you have a wonderful day!
Amelia Penney-Crocker